Kasper Schmeichel

Manchester City

Schmeichel joined Manchester City in September 2002 on a long-term contract, which covered schoolboy, scholar and professional terms. He joined League Two side Darlington on a loan deal in January 2006, where he made his professional first-team debut against Peterborough United at the Darlington Arena on 14 January 2006. Darlington won the game 2–1, with Schmeichel conceding a goal to Peterborough striker James Quinn. He gained his first clean sheet three days later against Grimsby Town. He made two further appearances before returning to Manchester City. One month after returning to Manchester City, he was loaned out again, this time to Bury in February, where he made 15 appearances in a three-month loan spell. He returned to Bury for a further three months the following season. Schmeichel joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk on loan from January 2007 until the end of the 2006–07 season. He was named man of the match against Rangers on 18 February 2007. He also saved a Craig Beattie penalty in a 1–0 win over Celtic on 18 March 2007. He revealed in May he would have liked his loan at Falkirk extended, and the club expressed an interest in signing him.

Schmeichel made his Manchester City debut against West Ham United in August 2007. He played against City's rivals Manchester United on 19 August 2007 and kept a clean sheet in City's 1–0 home win. Schmeichel saved a penalty from Arsenal's Robin van Persie on 25 August 2007 at the Emirates…

Youth

While at Manchester City, Schmeichel was called up for the Denmark national under-19 team in August 2004, and made his international debut in a 0–0 draw with Northern Ireland on 2 September 2004. He went on to play eight under-19 internationals until March 2005, competing with Kenneth Stenild and Michael Tørnes for the goalkeeping spot. He was called up for the under-20 team in October 2005, but did not play for the team until October 2006, during his time at Bury. The day after his under-20 debut, Schmeichel was asked to train with the senior Denmark team and was called up as a replacement for injured Theis Rasmussen in the under-21 squad. Schmeichel was one of the leading players in the team, and was named Danish under-21 Talent of the Year in November 2007, following three clean sheets in the previous four under-21 games. He played a total 17 under-21 internationals in a row from March 2007 to October 2008, racking up seven clean sheets.

Senior

Following his strong showings for Manchester City in the early 2007–08 season, it was reported on 23 August 2007 that The Football Association (FA) were investigating Schmeichel's international status, to see if there was any chance of him foregoing his Danish international status in order to play for England. Schmeichel, however, stated that he would only ever play for Denmark. Schmeichel was called up to the Danish senior team on 13 May 2011 for the first time for the match against Iceland, but remained…

Formative years and education

Kasper Schmeichel was born on 5 November 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is the son of former Denmark international goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, and is of Polish descent through his paternal grandfather. Schmeichel grew up in Denmark during his early years but spent most of his childhood living in England due to his father's playing career. He is a native speaker of both Danish and English and speaks with a Mancunian accent. He attended Hulme Hall Grammar School in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester, and he also attended Saint Julian's School in Portugal while his father played for Sporting CP in Lisbon. Growing up, Schmeichel was friends with Alex Bruce after their fathers had played together at Manchester United, going onto play together as professionals at Leeds United.

Youth-team career

Schmeichel started playing organised football in Portugal in 2000, while his father was part of Sporting CP. He played one season in the Estoril youth academy, in which he managed to win a championship. Commenting on his early footballing years, Schmeichel remarked: "Before [Estoril], it wasn't that serious. I have to admit that when I was very small, football did not interest me that much. It was mostly in short periods that it was fun, and then I had enough. So it only started to take shape when I was 12–13 years old". In 2001, Schmeichel moved to Denmark where he attended Oure Efterskole, an efterskole or voluntary independent…

Schmeichel is married to Stine Gyldenbrand. Together, they have three children: a son born in 2010, a daughter born in 2012 and a second daughter born in 2021. He is the son of Peter Schmeichel, a Danish former professional footballer who also played as a goalkeeper on the Danish national team, and during eight seasons at English club Manchester United where he won 15 trophies.